Sliding door lock



l April` 21, 1959 w. J. HoolE ln v2,883,227,

` SLIDING DOOR Loox Filed sept; 26, 1956 ATTORNEYS United States Patent() SLIDING DOOR LOCK William J. Hoofe III, Coral Gables, Fla.

Application September 26, 1956, Serial No. 612,199

8 Claims. (Cl. 292-140) This invention relates to a lock and more particularly relates to a lock for use on a sliding door.

In current building practice hinged doors are being replaced in many instances by sliding doors. In other cases, sliding doors are being used in place of curtains or other closure devices. In many such instances where sliding doors are used it is desirable to provide some type of latch or lock and the locks used on hinged doors are generally unsatisfactory for this purpose. As an example, modern homes often utilize sliding glass doors in aluminum frames. Some type of latch is desirable, and yet the latches available heretofore have been generally un satisfactory for this purpose.

It is 'accordingly a primary object of the present invention to provide an improved lock for a sliding door.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved lock for sliding doors which is of the push button type.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide an improved lock for sliding doors which is simple and economical to manufacture and which is not susceptible to corrosion when used in humid and wet inst-allations.

These and further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon reference to the following specication and claims and the appended drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is an elevation of the lock of this invention;

Figure 2 is a rear elevation of the lock of this invention;

Figure 3 is a vertical section of the lock of this invention; and

Figure 4 is a section taken on the line 4--4 of Figure 3.

Referring to the figures of the drawing, the lock consists of a housing 12 having a body portion 14 and a plate portion 16 extending from the rear edge of the body portion. The body portion 14 is bored at 18 and 20 to receive a pair of push buttons 22 and 24 which are slidably mounted therein. The outer surface of the body portion 14 is provided with a mounting plate 26 and the bores 18 and 20 are countersunk thereinto at 28 and 30. Button 22 is provided with a stud 32, as best seen in Figure 4, and a square plate 34 is screw threadedly engaged thereon to prevent removal of the button from the housing. Button 24 is also provided with a threaded stud 36 and an actuating plate 38 is screw threadedly mounted thereon. The plate 38 is generally L-shaped in nature, having a square upper portion 40, as seen in Figure 2, and an actuating arm 42 at the lower edge thereof. The square portion 40 prevents removal of the button 24 from the housing.

The top surface of plate 16 is provided with a shallow groove 44, as seen in Figure 3, and a pin 46 having a head 48 is secured to the plate by means of a rivet head 50 which tits within the groove 44 and is flush with the top surface 52 of the plate and body portion. The rivet head 50 is joined into the pin 46 by means of a shank 54 which passes through the plate 16. A pivot bar 56 is pivotally mounted on the pin 46, as seen in Figure 4,

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and is spaced from the plate 16 by `means of a bushing 58 which ts over the pin 46. Rocking bar 56 is provided with arms 60 and 62 which are offset at 64 and 66. The arms 60 and 62 are at an angle to one another so that when one arm, as arm 62 in Figure 4, is flush with the back of the plate 16, the other arm, as arm 60, extends upwardly therefrom. Referring to Figure 4 it will be seen that when button 24 is depressed, actuating plate 38 forces arm 62 downwardly and forces arm 60 upwardly to raise button 22. When button 22 is depressed, arm 60 is depressed forcing arm 62 upwardly to raise button 24.

A latch pin 68 is screw threadedly mounted on actuat` ing plate 38 by means of a threaded stud 70, seen in Figure 3, and extends through a recess 72 in body portion 12 into a groove 74 which extends lengthwise of body portion 12, as best seen in Figures 2 and 3. The groove 74 exposes portions of buttons 22 and 24 as shown at 75 and 76 in Figure 1 and receives a keeper 78 shown in broken lines in Figure 3. The keeper 78 is provided with a suitable aperture through which latch pin 68 passes in order to secure the member on which the lock is mounted to the member on which the keeper 78 is mounted.

The operation of the lock will be apparent from the foregoing. Depressing button 24 moves actuating plate 38 rearwardly, as seen in Figure 4, and withdraws latch pin 68 from keeper 78 and from groove 74. This permits the keeper 78 to be removed or, conversely, permits the lock 10 to be withdrawn from the keeper. Locking is effected by depressing button 22, which rocks the rocker bar counterclockwise to force button 24 forward and to move actuating plate 38 and latch pin into the groove 74 and into the keeper 78. In such a position the lock is secured to the keeper. It will thus be seen that locking is elected by merely pressing button 22, while unlocking is elected by simply pressing button 24. The locking action places the lock in condition for unlatching and the unlatching operation leaves the lock in condition for latching. The operation is extremely simple in nature and there are very few moving parts involved.. No springs are used so that the lock has an extremely long life.

The lock may be secured to a sliding door, as a shower door, by mounting it within an aluminum channel member 80, seen in Figures 2, 3 and 4 which is provided with strips 82 and 84 forming a groove 86 which receives a glass panel. The lock is secured in the channel by means of screws 88 and 90 passing through :apertures 92 and 94 and screw threadedly engaging the channel 80. The side of the channel opposite strips 82 and 84 is provided with a further strip 96 which mates with the member that the door ahuts and upon which the keeper 78 is secured. All parts of the lock with the exception of the latch pin 68 and pin 46 may be formed of a noncorroding material such as aluminum. Latch pin 68 and pin 46 may be formed of -a somewhat harder non-corroding material such as stainless steel so that the entire unit is non-corroding.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that the lock of this invention is extremely simple in construction and operation, is economical to manufacture, and is rugged in design and possessed of an extremely long life.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof, the present embodiment is therefore to be considered in all respects las illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

States Letters Patent is:

1. A lock comprising a housing, a pair of button means having parallel axes and being slidably mounted in said housing, a rocker bar pivotally mounted in said housing on a .pivot axis extending perpendicular to the plane formed by said pair of button means axes and having ends engageable by said button means, said rocker bar being so mounted that depression of one button means rocks said bar to move the other button in an Opposite direction, and a latch pin operatively connected to one of said button means for movement therewith along a path parallel to said button means axes.

2. A lock comprising a housing, a pair of button means slidably mounted in said housing for movement on parallel spaced axes, a rocker bar pivotally mounted in said housing on a pivot axis extending perpendicular to the plane formed by said pair of button means axes and having ends engageable by said button means, said rocker bar being so mounted that depression of one button means rocks said bar to move the other button in an opposite direction, one of said button means including a lock plate extending away from said button means, and a latch pin mounted on said lock plate for movement with said one button means `along a path parallel to said button means axes.

3. A lock as set out in claim 2 wherein said housing includes a body portion having bores completely therethrough in which said button means are mounted, said lock plate engageahle with one surfaces of said body `portionto retain itsl associated button means therein, and a plate included in the other of said button means and engageable with said surface of said body portion to retain said `other button means therein.

4. A lock as set out in claim 3 wherein the ends of said rocker bar are engageable with said plates.

5. A lock as set out in claim 3 wherein said housing includes a plate member extending from said body portion., and a pivot pin mounted on said plate member and carrying said rocker bar.

6. A lock as set out in claim 3 wherein a surface of said body portion is provided with a groove perpendicular to the axes of said button means, said latch pin entering said groove.

7. A lock as set out inclaim 6 wherein said body portion is provided with a recess in the same surface as said groove, said latch pin yentering said groove through said recess.

8. A lock as set out in claim 6 including a mounting plate attached to the front of said body member and being perpendicular to said plate member.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Ross Nov. 12, 1940v 

